Significant storm likely brewing for overnight Thursday into Friday

WORCESTER — Arctic air is settling into the region for the rest of the week, and a significant post-New Year's Day snowstorm is developing, according to the National Weather Service.

"We are certain it will snow because it's going to be so cold," said weather service meteorologist Eleanor Vallier-Talbot. While more specific storm totals in the region are "too uncertain to forecast" by the National Weather Service, probability charts reveal Worcester County is most likely to accumulate between four and six inches.

New Year's Day, will be sunny but cold, with a high of 24 degrees and temperatures falling to the mid-teens overnight, the weather service reported.

The amount of snow at the end of the week will depend on a system that was "just starting to form" Tuesday evening over the Gulf of Mexico as well a high pressure system pulling cold arctic air from the north, Ms. Vallier-Talbot said.

"We have to wait and see exactly where things are going to form," she said. With the storm forecasted to dump the most snow along the coast, she added "we're not sure how far inland it will go."

Fitchburg on Tuesday announced a winter parking ban will go into effect at 3 p.m. Thursday.

On top of the snow accumulations, the mercury is expected to drop to 3 degrees Thursday night, with a good chance for wind chills of 15 to 25 degrees below zero into early Saturday. In that case, forecasters will likely issue wind chill advisories.

The temperature is forecast to rise to just 7 degrees at its warmest Friday, and drop to 7 degrees below zero — not counting wind chill — that night.

According to the weather service, temperatures will rise at last Saturday, with highs expected in the mid- to upper-teens. Worcester is not expected to emerge from the freezing temperatures until Sunday, when highs are expected to reach the mid-30s.